Staying Productive After Work

How do you resist the temptation to do nothing when you're not working? It's tempting after a long, hard day at work to just go home, lay down, order food and hit the sack but doing so means that your free time you can use, you're not accomplishing any of your personal projects and goals that you are passionate about. There is no shortage of ways to stay motivated and productive.

Get started as soon as you come home:

Body in motion tends to stay in motion, body at rest tends to stay at rest. Whether a few minutes or an hour, getting started soon as you get home will keep you in a work mode. Once you sit down, your odds drop to half of you getting the next thing accomplished.

Get out of the house:

If tempation is too great and the couch or bed is calling your name, take your project out of the house where you can work or learn something new. Head out to your local coffee shop, library or park.

Take just 10 minutes:

Give yourself no less than 10 minutes to work on your personal projects. If you feel like working a little more, than you can. The important thing is just getting started.

Love for your project:

Pick a project that you're passionate about and that you are naturally drawn to. You will be more likely to dedicate your free time if you are doing something that you love.

• If you pay for a class, you are more likely to show up.

Get some exercise:

Exercise is key to having more energy and hours in the day. Take a walk around the block and you will feel more energized and you will get benefits with more regular and frequent activities.

Not taking time to exercise? Make this the first  into your day will almost instantly have you feeling the results.

Schedule it, keep it!

Planning is  important, so think about your personal projects before you leave the office so you are ready to tackle it when you get home. You need a very SPECIFIC goal you want to accomplish and get started.

Get up earlier:

The earlier you go to bed, the earlier you can wake up and waking up earlier, you can carve out time in your morning to work on a project, read a book, or whatever you been wanting to do. Getting up early has other benefits, such as making the start to your day less stressful.

Forgive yourself:

Realize you won't be productive every night. Forgive yourself and pick up the next day.

Do you have any after-work productivity tips? Suggestions on how to stay motivated to work on projects after a hard day at work? Please share your comments.